We get it, putting beef fat on your face sounds a little…strange. Is it gonna break me out? Will it clog my pores? Is it sanitary?! Let’s get into it.
Why would you put beef fat on your skin?
So first of all, what even is beef tallow? And, is beef tallow good for your skin?
Beef tallow is the fat that renders off of beef when you cook it. It’s white and creamy, like this:
It’s kind of like butter.
When you buy beef tallow for skin in a cream or balm format it would have been rendered and finely filtered to make sure the final product is as pure, clean and white as possible, so all that’s left is pure 100% fat.
And you might be surprised to find out that before we had CeraVe, Clinique and Olay moisturizers made from industrial seed oils and petrochemicals, people used beef tallow to make homemade soaps and body creams
In the middle ages, tallow would be mixed with lye or ashes to make soap and the tallow itself would be used to heal ringworm and scabies on the skin due to it having natural antibacterial properties.
So, tallow balm was the original skin moisturizer!
The thing is though, soap and moisturizer made of tallow is expensive to mass-produce, which is why mega skin care brands like Ivory and Dove started to use vegetable oil & petroleum as ingredients in their skin care products to make them cheaper to produce while lasting longer on the shelf.
As a result of chasing profits and low costs, these products end up containing petrochemicals like phthalates and parabens which have been proven to absorb into the bloodstream and act as hormone disruptors.
So, what would you rather put on your skin? Toxic seed oils and petrochemicals? Or, something that people have been using on their skin since the dawn of time?
Benefits of beef tallow for skin
Did you know that beef tallow contains vitamins and minerals that are good for the skin?
Think about how nourishing beef is for your body and then imagine those nutrients absorbing into your skin.
Here are just some of the benefits of beef tallow for skin:
- High in vitamin A: An artificial form of vitamin A (retinol) is used in anti-aging creams to fight the appearance of wrinkles, but tallow has this in high amounts, naturally.
- High in vitamins E, D & K: Vitamins D, E & K act as antioxidants, protecting the skin from free radical damage and speeds up the skin healing process.
- High in CLA: an essential fatty acid that helps our skin cells hold onto moisture.
- Similar to natural sebum: tallow has a similar structure to the sebum (oil) that is naturally produced by our own skin. This is why it’s so absorbent!
- Naturally antimicrobial: tallow has natural antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, apply to skin infections and see how fast it clears.
Compared to toxic, nutrient void oils that are used in conventional moisturizers, tallow balm is like medicine for the skin. You’ll see how quickly your skin starts to change once you start using it regularly.
Is beef tallow safe for sensitive skin?
As long as you buy quality tallow, beef tallow contains zero added chemicals or preservatives so there shouldn’t be anything in it that will irritate sensitive skin (this is assuming your tallow is grass-fed/finished and not fed a diet of pesticide-sprayed grains).
So whether you have oily skin, dry skin or very sensitive skin, beef tallow will be safe for you to use.
We’ve had many customers tell us how tallow has worked wonders on their eczema.
EVIL GOODS Whipped Beef Tallow and Honey Balm
- Moisturizing, Nourishing, Anti-Aging & Anti-Inflammatory
- Grass-fed, grass-finished tallow, Manuka honey, organic cold-pressed olive oil
- Suitable For All Skin Types
- 100% Natural Ingredients. Zero Toxins.
Will beef tallow clog pores?
We know you might be ‘assuming’ that beef tallow clogs pores because… look at it! It’s so thick!
But, you don’t need to worry too much about tallow clogging pores because it has a pretty low rating on the comedogenic scale.
Tallow is rated a 2 on the comedogenic scale (1-5) which means it’s classified as an oil/butter that doesn’t clog pores and is safe to use on acne-prone skin.
Oils and butters with a rating of 3-5 like coconut butter and soybean oil do clog pores and should definitely be avoided for people who are prone to acne.
If you are someone who is acne prone, it is possible that moisturizers rated a 1 or 2 could trigger a breakout, but for the majority of people, it shouldn’t be a problem! It will really depend on your unique skin type.
You could try rubbing some tallow on your skin as a patch test and see if anything happens.
Where can you use tallow on your skin?
Beef tallow can be used everywhere! Well, almost everywhere… use it in place of a face cream, a body lotion, eye cream or lip balm, some people will even use it as a leave-in conditioner after they wash their hair.
Just think about it… one container of beef tallow balm can replace all of these chemical-filled products that some people spend hundreds of dollars on!
One thing you’ll find when using tallow on your skin is that you only need a tiny amount. Use too much and it will feel heavy and thick. Take a small dab, rub in your hands and then massage into the skin.
What to look for in a beef tallow balm
Since you’re going to be replacing all of your toxic moisturizers with tallow, you’ll want to invest in a high-quality tallow balm.
Your tallow balm should have come from grass fed/finished beef. It’s important that it’s both grass-fed & finished which means the cows ate grass their entire lives.
“Grass-fed” usually only means that the cows were fed grass in the beginning of their life, but were then fed grains near the end of their lives or were fed a supplement of grains to fatten them up.
And we know that most grains grown in the US are absolutely drenched in pesticides, especially the grains fed to animals. So, this is why grass fed & finished is important.
There are many studies out there citing that pesticides are stored in ‘fat’.
So, if you’re gonna be putting beef fat on your skin everyday, you definitely don’t want to be rubbing in pesticides as well.
Look for additional skin supporting ingredients like manuka honey or olive oil.
You’ll be getting even more nutrients for your skin when you combine beef tallow with these types of ingredients.
Also, make sure your tallow balm contains other natural ingredients that enhance its healing power like pot marigold flower (no petrochemicals!).
And this is the perfect time to say there are a lot of tallow balm knock-offs out there that are definitely not using real grass fed & finished beef tallow.
If the price seems too good to be true, it probably means they are using the lowest quality tallow possible while also being cut with who knows what else.
These companies are also selling smaller 2 oz jars for a higher price which isn’t gonna last you long if you're going to be using it daily.
Go for a larger jar and make sure that you buy your tallow balm from a verified supplier that shows you exactly what’s going into the balm.
In the process of making ours, we had labs analyze some of the other popular tallow balms on the market. We were shocked to find out that many of the biggest brands have other ingredients hidden in there that aren’t listed on the label.
So when we set out to create our Evil Goods Whipped Beef Tallow and Honey Balm, our goal was to make it the cleanest, purest, best beef tallow for skin, while having the as satisfying of a texture as the toxic stuff. Click here to grab a jar!
But whatever tallow balm you get, as long as it’s not the dirt cheap knockoffs, it should be much better than the mainstream toxic skincare products.
